Too-Thin Thighs Unhealthy?

Sept. 4, 2009 -- Having thighs that are too skinny may be a sign of increased risk of death or heart disease, a Danish study shows.

The study, published online in BMJ (formerly called the British Medical Journal), tracked thigh circumference and a host of other traits in more than 2,700 Danish men and women from the late 1980s through 2002.

The study doesn't show why thigh circumference mattered. But the researchers -- who included Berit Heitmann, PhD, of the Institute of Preventive Medicine at Denmark's Copenhagen University Hospital -- suggest that not having enough thigh muscle might be the issue -- and physical activity could build up those muscles.

The findings need to be checked in other studies, and it remains to be seen if thigh circumference will help identify at-risk patients, writes Ian Scott, MBBS, FRACP, director of internal medicine and clinical epidemiology at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia.